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Competent English

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byAidan Kinsella
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English proficiency

You must show evidence of meeting the competent English requirement unless you hold a valid passport from one of these countries:

  1. the United Kingdom;
  2. the United States;
  3. Canada;
  4. the Republic of Ireland;
  5. New Zealand.

There are no other exemptions available. Please note that you must provide evidence that you meet the competent English requirement at the time the application is lodged.

Approved tests

If you are not exempt, you must provide results from an approved test that equal competent English language ability.  The following tests are acceptable:

Notes:

  • The date the test is taken is important:
    • English tests taken from 7 August 2025 will need to meet the new scores published in the below table.
    • Tests taken before 7 August 2025 may be submitted if they meet the previous English language score requirements.
  • A special note for TOEFL iBT – Results from TOEFL iBT tests completed between 26 July 2023 and 4 May 2024 will notbe accepted. Tests completed before July 26th, 2023 and after 5 May 2024 remain valid for two years and can be used.

Minimum scores

For the purposes of a visa application, English test results are valid for 3 years with the exception of TOEFL iBT tests taken above.

TESTS from 7 August 2025

  C1 Advanced CELPIP General LANGUAGE CERT Academic MET IELTS Academic or General Training OET PTE Academic TOEFL iBT
Listening 163 7 57 56 6 290 47 16
Reading 163 7 60 55 6 310 48 16
Writing 170 7 64 57 6 290 51 19
Speaking 179 7 70 48 6 330 54 19

TESTS before 7 August 2025

  C1 Advanced CELPIP General LANGUAGE CERT Academic MET IELTS Academic or General Training OET PTE Academic TOEFL iBT
Listening No longer accepted NA – no available before this date NA – no available before this date NA – no available before this date 6 B 50 12
Reading 6 B 50 13
Writing 6 B 50 21
Speaking 6 B 50 18

Test Retaking

The Department of Home Affairs permits the re-take of a single skill only for the below tests:

  • IELTS – One Skill Retake (OSR) permitted for both IELTS Academic and IELTS General Training
  • MET – Single Section Retake (SSR) will also be accepted.

Test Centre

All tests must take place in a secure testing centre. The Department of Home Affairs does not accept evidence from English language tests that are delivered online (also known as ‘remote-proctored’ or ‘at-home’).

Examples of online tests that are not accepted for Australian visa purposes include:

  • CELPIP Online
  • IELTS Online
  • LANGUAGECERT Academic Online
  • MET Digital (taken at-home)
  • OET@Home
  • TOEFL iBT – Home Edition